Among the passengers were 169 Indian nationals, 53 British nationals, one Canadian national and seven Portuguese nationals, the airline said in a separate statement. “The injured are being taken to the nearest hospitals,” it added.
The airline did not provide nationalities of the crew members.
But India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation said in a statement that the pilots had many hours of flying experience under their belts.
“The aircraft was under the command of Capt Sumeet Sabharwal with First Officer Clive Kundar,” the statement said.
Sabharwal had logged 8,200 hours of flying time. His co-pilot had 1,100 hours of flying experience, it said.
The plane crashed into a hostel for B.J. Medical College and Civil Hospital students and relatives, the Federation of All Indian Medical Associations wrote on X.
The wife of a doctor was found dead and 50 students from the college were admitted to the hospital and are in stable condition, the organization posted.
The skies appeared to be clear when the plane, which was scheduled to depart at 1:10 p.m. local time (3:40 a.m. ET), and expected to land in London at 6:25 p.m. local time (1:25 p.m. ET), took off.
The plane had reached an altitude of some 625 feet when the pilot issued a Mayday call for help and the airline started to go down, officials said.
Footage of the doomed flight showed the plane’s landing gear was still down when it crashed and created a ball of flames.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on X that the tragedy had “stunned and saddened us.” “It is heartbreaking beyond words. In this sad hour, my thoughts are with everyone affected by it,” he added.
Separately, the country’s Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu said on X that he was “shocked and devastated.”
“I am personally monitoring the situation and have directed all aviation and emergency response agencies to take swift and coordinated action,” he added.